I'm going to the South, Yawl

Hello,

Today I will start blogging about my trip to the South. Honestly, it is 6pm here and I am fighting the urge to go to bed for the evening. I had my Arabic presentation today, a puppet show, with my group. It went well, but it took all my energy. Please bear with me.

Okay, so I left for the Southern Excursion trip last Monday. I hoped on a bus and for the first time since I have been in Jordan, I did not research many of the places I was going. I just simply got on the bus with the idea of I will learn as I go. It worked out well.

Gah...want to sleep!

The first place we visited was Kerak Castle, a large crusader castle in Southern Jordan. It is considered one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant and it is believed to have been constructed during the 1140s by the Fulk of Jerusalem's butler. I don't know who that is or what the title means...sorry. The position of the castle allowed the crusaders to control trade routes to Egypt as well as to control the local bedouin population. The design of the castle has Byzantine, Roman and Arab influences.

Below is a wikipedia link with more information about the castle.
Kerak Castle

Here are some pictures of the castle.

Me after I climbed up the castle. I have really developed a love of climbing, not something I would have expected going into my trip.

 Next we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We ate a place that reminded us all of Cracker Barrel. We found the Middle Eastern Cracker Barrel! The food was of a better quality than the Cracker Barrel, but it had all the souvenirs and tricket type things. We ate a nice buffet lunch of fried chicken and rice. It was very nice.


Next we arrived at Dana Biosphere Reserve where we would stay for the night. Dana is the largest nature reserve in Jordan and is about 300 square kilometers long. It has four different biographical zones and has many canyons leading to Wadi Araba. Ancient people lived here and it is possible to find ancient coper mines, Roman Aqueducts and Byzantine Churches.

Pictures from our nature hike.

Sunset in the valley

Our tour guide

A fossil of a sea shell. The Mountains used to be under water in Dana

Here are pictures of the old village. No one lives there anymore. 

Hiking in the woods

The views were great, and I enjoyed the nature hike. But our guide and the rest of the evening were totally better. After sitting through a boring lecture about Petra at the hotel (Yes, I fell asleep) we went to dinner. We ate chicken and rice and then sat back to listen to some music. Our guide got up and started shaking his hips like Shakeria. I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time! I remember from my dance class at the Middlebury Arabic school that men do not shake their hips. During the program, the boys kept getting corrected multiple times about this. As a result, I was shocked to see the shaking. I walked over to Jumana, the Student Advisor who had gone on the trip, and asked her if the man was dancing for real or as a joke. I couldn't tell. The man was so enthusiastic. Jumana told me it was a joke and then explained the dancing thing to the group. Good times!

After a bit, the students decided to join the tour guide in the dancing. We were shaking it and dancing to the beat of a oud player and a drummer. It was amazing! We also did some debka dancing, or dancing that consists of steps in a circle. I learned some new steps and was excited. I love a good debka circle. Unfortunately most of the time no matter where I am, most of the group is very drunk when it is debka time. Drunk Americans do not produce a great debka circle. Luckily everyone was sober and it was one of the best debka circles I have ever danced in. The male teachers, Ahmed and Raed, eat took turns dancing with a cane. It was fun to watch them throw the cane between their fingers and whirl it around. They also taught us how to yell or make noises while dancing and how to do some cool and some dorky moves. It was a great evening.

The SIT men and Dr. Raed dancing with the cane. 

After the dancing, Paige, Allan and I climbed a mountain nearby. We wanted to stargaze and see the full moon. We used Paige's IPad application to check and see what stars we were looking at. While we were stargazing, Allan sang us a lullaby that his father made for him when he was a little boy. The lullaby is in Spanish (Allan is Costa Rican, not American) and is probably the most beautiful song I have ever heard. It was so soothing to listen to.

We left the mountain around 1am and started to climb down. A couple steps from the end I missed my rock and slide for a bit down the mountain. All was fine, except I twisted my wrist. I thought crap, I would not be able to climb at all tomorrow! Luckily Allan is an athletic trainer at his college and was able to wrap my wrist and stop it from swelling. I woke up in the morning with an almost perfect wrist. Great Job, Allan!

The next day, the group drove to Petra. This I was very excited to see! Petra, the Rose City, was established in 312 BC by the Nabateans as the center for their trade. The Nabateans were a group of Ancient Arabs from Northern Arabia. The Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan conquers the Nabateans. The Nabateans believed in many different gods and goddesses, some from Egypt and other places.
It was been an UNSCO World heritage site since 1985 and is listened as one of the "28 Places You Must See Before you Die" According to Smithsonian Magazine. Finally and most importantly, it is listed as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here they are.

But before you reach any of these places, you must first walk through The Siq. The Siq is a mile long gorge that appears after you have walked for about half a mile in the valley. The waters from Wadi Musa used to flow through this gorge. The place is so much more beautiful

A small boy in Petra wanted to sow Allan a better way of ttyinghis Kefaya

The Monestary. A long hike from the entrance of Petra

The view from the highest point in Petra

Me with the monastery in the background

The treasury through the Siq

The treasury

Me bonding with a camel. 

Ampitheather

Steps carved into stone

First ever camel ride

Master of the Jamel!

Now I would like to discuss two of the major places I saw in Petra. First, the Treasury. There is a very popular photo right now of President Obama standing in front of this building of Petra. This building stands over 40 meters high and was constructed around 1BC. An Eagle is perched on top of the facade. The female figure in the center of the facade is believed to be the fertility Goddess of Petra, or the Egyptian goddess Isis. On of the few interesting points I got from the lecture on Petra was that the name Treasury has nothing to do with how the ancient Nabateans actually used the building. The name comes from a group of bedouin people who used to live in the area. The people used to shoot guns at the top center of the facade, believing for some reason that gold was stored there. You can literally still see the bullet marks.

Second, The Monastery. The Monastery is larger than the Treasury but has a far less decorated facade.Most likely the Monastery served as a temple for the Nabateans in 1 BC. They say that the Monastery is an hour walk from the center of Petra. I kind of have to call bullshit. My group decided to walk but had to stop numerous times. The walk is literally up a 90 degree hill. It was very hot and honestly I had not eaten enough nor drank enough to make the journey (This is through my own fault, SIT provided food and water, I was too lazy to carry the water and too excited to eat the sandwiches). On the bright side to walking, there are many different paths you can walk along and you can climb many different rocks and mountains. The view was amazing! If you are interested, you can take a donkey and ride up the hill. From the Monastery, there are many very high points that will allow you to see all of Petra. It was once again quiet a climb, but totally worth it.


After a long day, it was time to walk back to the bus. I was so tired that after walked 3/4 of the way back, I decided to ride a horse. That was a nice way to end the trip. I definitely recommend animal rides! I would have also liked to have seen the Temple of High Sacrifice where animal sacrifices were made to the gods. However, I ran out of time and would not have even had the energy to consider going there. On the way back, I looked up while on the horse and saw the point that I stood with my Badia Host dad and looked at Petra for the first time. It was neat to have the experience of seeing Petra with the Bedouins and as a tourist. Both are totally different points of view.


Fun Facts about Petra

1) All the building you have seen are carved into the stone. They were carved from the top down. This was determined due to buildings that were not finished.
2) Sometimes it is known to flood. Today the Jordanian government has installed some drains and such to help preserve the sight.
3) at some point 20,000 people lived in Petra.
4)Petra means "Rock" in Greek


That night we spent the night in the Petra Panorama hotel. It was a lovely place that I would highly reccemend.

The next morning we left for Wadi Rum. Before we arrived at Wadi Rum, we stopped at my Village, Al Rajiff. We went to visit the special needs school that my badia host mom helps to run. My bedouin host mom was not there. She is pretty sick and is in the hospital in Amman. I hope see feels better soon. She must be pretty ill if she went to the hospital. She is definitely a strong lady.
The school was a pleasant trip. I determined where the funding for the school comes from during this trip. US gives a good amount of money to the school. There are banners everywhere saying US AID. The Jordanian government also helps by giving the school money, but I forget the details. The school fed us a nice chicken and rice lunch. I enjoyed sitting outside the school after we were done. My friend Paige asked if I wanted to walk down the road with her. I replied no, remembering the last time I tried to walk down a road in Al Rajiff. Paige seemed frustrated with me, but eventually understood and just sat with me outside.

Below are some pictures.

Notice, I am the only girl with my arms uncovered. The last time I was in Al Rajiff all I did was obey. This time I wanted to wear a tee shirt, so I wore a frickin tee shirt. It was very immature and disrespectful, and I regret doing it for that reason. However, at the same time it felt sooo right :) I'm very conflicted as to how I handled this situation. I guess if that is the worse thing I do, I'm okay. 

A diagram with special needs conditions listed in Arabic and English

Winney the Pooh saying "Praise be to God"

Some pictures of the village

Next, we hopped back on the bus and headed towards Wadi Rum. After a couple hour bus ride, we arrived at our campsite.

These were our tents. Three beds fit in one tent

After arriving at the campsite, the group left for a jeep ride in the desert. THIS WAS AWESOME! We sped through the desert and had the wind in our hair. It was an amazing way to see the dessert! On some of the mountains we saw ancient Nabatean drawings of camels. That was really neat to see. I also saw a man walking his camels through the desert.

Me walking in the desert. 

Ancient Nabatean Drawings of Camels

We roasted marshmellows hehehe We had smores also

My hand next to a camel's foot print. See, the camel is such a lovely animal that its feet leave hearts in the sand. How
Wonderful!

We traveled around for some time visiting different parts in the desert. We even saw a monument to Lawrence of Arabia. I didn't walk over to see it because I went to do something a lot cooler. Instead, I walked up a very steep hill of sand. It took awhile, but I did it at Ahmed's suggestion. He told us to climb up and then body roll down. I rolled for what seemed like an eternity! I could not stop laughing so I ended up with a mouth full of sand by the end of the roll. I think I rolled very fast for about 5 minutes. That is how high the hill is! It was a lot of fun and definitely better than a monument. It was the first time in my life that having sand in my pants was not upsetting, especially since there was not a shower around to clean myself off afterwards. I put my scarf around my head to avoid getting sand in my hair. For some reason, I felt the need to avoid that.

It does not look steep, but it is!

Rolling down the sand hill. Above-  Me running part of the way down. I'm in a blue shirt.

Next we drove to a part of Wadi Rum where we could watch the sun set. We climbed a mountain close by and sat there to watch the sun set. This was definitely the most beautiful sun set I have ever seen. It is amazing how many different colors exsist during a sunset in the desert. Below are some pictures.

Now while all the day activities were superb in Wadi Rum, the evening was the best. We sat around and smoked hookah by the fire and talked. It sounds so simple, but the conversation was great. I really enjoyed talking with Ahmed. He told me that he did not like some places in America due to their lack of color. I asked him to explain. He told me that there was too much green. I laughed and said here there is too much sand.  He really put a lot into planning our trip and I really appreciated it. 

This ccannotbe real life, too perfect!

During our conversation, Ahmed told me that one of his favorite things to do is to go out into the desert at night and mediate and relax. I said that sounded awesome. He said he would get a group together to go try it out and that he would let me know when they were leaving. Meanwhile I enjoyed my marshmallows and shisha. Eventually the time came. I followed the group out. It really had the feeling of walking on the moon. It was so beautiful and eerie at the same time. Everything was dark and stoney or sandy. I laid down in the sand with the group and stared at the moon. I practiced my yoga breathing and soon began to totally "be in the moment". I have never felt so relaxed in my life. My body melted into the sand. It was one of the few times that I did not have a single thought in my head. I was in control and could push unnecessary thoughts away when I wanted to. I would consider this moment the most beautiful moment in my life to date. This sounds ridiculous. "Natalie, you sat in the sand and stared at the sky. What's the big deal?" I can't explain it to you. You just have to try it. Other people had similar experiences. Wadi Rum is a magical place. Thank you, Ahmed!

My mediation was interrupted when the group wanted to begin playing Mafia. While I did not really want to play, I decided to be a good team player and participate. After a game, my friend, Paige, asked Ahmed if we could do the meditation thing again. I shot out of my seat and followed the two maybe 15 feet away from the group game. There we just sat and enjoyed the desert in its entirety and stillness. Once again, it was a beautiful moment. 

After mediating, Paige, Ahmed and I decided to go back to the camp. Ahmed walked with us mostly because he wanted to make sure Paige and I made it back okay. Seriously, SIT is awesome at taking care of us! They even packed up bag lunches for Petra. Adorable! At this point, I was wearing two fleece jackets, a sweatshirt and two think pashminas. I was comfortable and unable to feel the tremendous cold. Ahmed did not think so though. He was concerned that my pink jacket was all that I was wearing and he was unable to see my other layers. Because he felt Paige and I were cold, he shared his Jordanian snuggie with us. Yes, snuggie. All the students call it a snuggie because it is like a cloak that they throw on to be warm. It is amazingly warm. I was too hot standing underneath the snuggie! I wanted to leave, but Ahmed was afraid I was cold and kept me and the snuggie close by. Damn! Bedouins have amazing clothing for weather! We made it back to the camp safe and sound. 

Later on, my two roommates for my tent came back. They asked if I would like to sleep under the stars with them. I said what the hell and helped to figure out how we could do this. We pushed two park benches together and threw all three of the blankets (one per student) on the benches. Next we got in. I slept in the middle, in my many jackets and jeans and the other girls slept on the end. Then one of the employees of the camp came over and threw another blanket on us and literally tucked us in. We could not stop laughing. He asked if we wanted a story, but I replied that that would be too much. It was amazing to stare at the moon and stars until I fell asleep. Also, I was not cold at all. Maybe of the other group members complained about not being able to sleep due to shaking. My group had no problem. Our combined body heat and sharing of the blankets helped a lot. Were we cold, yes, but we were not frozen. When sleeping in the desert, bring a cuddle buddy. You will need one!

The following morning, we woke up and watched the sunrise. This was a beautiful and peaceful start to the day. After the sunrise, we had a group camel ride. This would be my second time on the camel. This camel was very small. Dr. Raed told me to sit on the large white camel next to my little one, but for some reason, I wanted to sit on the little one. I want to think of the camel as an adolescent camel. He was very friendly and let everyone pet him. I kept telling him what a good camel he was. The boy in front of me kept petting him as well. Beautiful animal! 

My camel's kind face

Me on the camel. Eye level view

After the camel ride, we ate breakfast then headed to Aqaba. Jordan's port to the Red Sea. We went snorkeling and swimming in the Red Sea. The snorkeling was AMAZING! You could see Zebra fish, Orange fish, a ton of coral. It was so beautiful, There was a school of fish so large that I could not see where it began or where it ended. It was also so thick that I was afraid to swim through it. From the Red Sea, I saw Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. It was neat to see all four countries at once. I recommended that we all take shots when we got close to Saudi Arabia, since they are so strictly against drinking. However, when the opportunity arose, we realized that there was no booze. It was an idea that made us all laugh though. I also ate some of the best chicken and rice ever on this boat..

Side note: I feel like I have been saying Chicken and Rice over and over again. I assure you that each time it is cooked in a different way. Also, I can no longer eat beef. I have tried to order a burger here twice now. Each time, I start but then start feeling gross and sick. I wind up eating a fourth of the burger and then just eating the roll and fries. I really enjoy all the chicken. To be honestly, I'm going to need to ease back into eating other meats. I can do lamb though, just not chucks of it for the same reason as the beef.

The cruise was so much fun! Dr. Raed suggested we play Shakiera so everyone would dance. It made me laugh that this was his suggestion. He is a conservative man, but he wants us to have fun and is a big fan of dancing. You can probably tell by the pictures of him dancing with his cane. We had fun dancing and singing. Good times.

While I liked the water, I hated Aqaba the town, especially at night. My host mom had told me before I left that it isn't that great. I just figured she was wrong. I don't know why I assumed that. There really is not much to do there. It seems like a place where Jordanians go to take advantage of the duty free liqueur. Also, the men there were far more aggressive and my group stayed in a nice area at a nice hotel. I walked by myself next door to the hotel to get peanuts, my new favorite food, and I had to run back into my hotel because a man outside the hotel was being to aggressive in his talking at me. My male SIT friend saw the whole thing and reprimanded me for being blinded by my desire of peanuts. For now on we would go together to get peanuts :). Honestly, the guys were great on this trip. They walked with the ladies and made sure we were fine. There are only 5 men in a group of 22, so this is a lot of pressure on them. The peanuts were the best I have ever had though. We walked through the streets that night and saw a debka battle between some dudes. That was awesome! I saw street debka! So edgy and hipster! When I told my host mom my experience, she was like "What did I tell you?". Lol O host mom! I just really wanted some peanuts! I got a whole bag of fresh roasted peanuts for a dollar. Totally worth it... (My dad smacks his forehead with his palm).

The next morning we packed up and prepared a couple hour drive back to Amman. It was a wonderful trip, but I was looking forward to catching up with my host family. We have a lot of fun together.


yay! I finished!!

Talk to you soon,
Natalie

PS- I'm wearing a camel hat in most of my pictures. I bought it in Petra to save my face from the Sun. Last time I was in the south, I got major sun burn. I wanted to avoid this mostly because my host mom felt really concerned that I was in alot of pain once I returned to Amman. She kept offering my heavy duty painkillers. I said it didn't hurt, but she didn't believe me. Arab people are not used to very white girls being very red. It makes them nervous. For this reason, I wore a hat.